Keep up the fight against misleading abortion clinics

A woman protests outside the Supreme Court against facilities established by pro-life organizations around the country that counsel women against abortion. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)

When you think you might be pregnant, you deserve two things: quality medical care, and the truth. A majority of the Supreme Court disagrees, and with the recent nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, that’s unlikely to change.

In a mostly overlooked decision before the end of its term, NIFLA vs. Becerra, the Supreme Court struck down the California Reproductive Freedom, Accountability, Comprehensive Care and Transparency (FACT) Act on First Amendment grounds. Five to four, the court ruled that unlicensed “crisis pregnancy centers” in California are allowed to mislead women, passing themselves off as licensed healthcare facilities rather than disclosing what they are: non-professional, usually religiously-affiliated organizations whose sole purpose is to prevent abortions.

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The most recent research by NARAL Foundation-New York and the National Institute for Reproductive Health showed 16 similar fake clinics operating in New York City, using tactics including lying about abortion’s health risks, intentionally delaying a woman’s decision-making and emotionally manipulating women. These clinics situate themselves in low-income, minority communities, where women are less likely to have ready access to quality OB-GYN services, to know their options, and to speak English fluently. They promise free services and support, but deliver a bait and switch. More recent mapping research by the National Council of Jewish Women reveals that there are at least 100 fake clinics operating across the city and state — more than there are real, comprehensive reproductive health-care centers.

As an advocate for social justice for women, children and families for the last 25 years, I know that fighting for access to comprehensive, quality reproductive health care is a long battle. I started my career in 1991 at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, fighting the international “gag rule,” the attempt to ban “partial birth abortion” and myriad other cunning attacks from anti-choice activists. Make no mistake: These fake clinics are the new front lines of the battle for reproductive freedom, and the highest court in our land has just decided that the First Amendment gives them carte blanche to lie, manipulate and mislead women and girls.

According to New York City’s Local Law 17 of 2011, clinics defined as “pregnancy services centers” must disclose that they are not licensed medical facilities. However, the NIFLA decision may make our city’s law — and others designed to protect pregnant women from fake clinics — vulnerable to challenge.

As the current administration continues to appoint anti-choice, right-wing nominees to the federal bench, from the lower courts all the way to the Supreme Court, we can expect a continued, alarming decrease in protection of reproductive rights. In this new era, reasonable regulations designed to protect our most vulnerable populations can, and most likely will, be struck down by a conservative court in the name of free speech.

But this is not about free speech. This is another example of the conservative right finding new and innovative ways to control other people’s reproductive autonomy. We’ve seen it before, with activists physically blocking access to abortion providers and threatening doctors, and lawmakers burying clinics in unreasonable requirements and red tape, or enacting hurdles for patients, like waiting periods.

Most pro-choice New Yorkers are familiar with these tactics, and we guard against them here in our city. But few are aware of the pervasive use of lying and fearmongering in the very spaces where pregnant women go to seek advice and support.

I cherish the First Amendment. Those who believe that abortion is wrong have the right to share those views; they have the right to stand on a soapbox, to shout from the rooftops! An honest and forthright attempt to change hearts and minds is not wrong. But fake clinics are anything but honest or forthright. Just as the First Amendment does not protect one’s right to yell “Fire!” in a crowded theater, it should not protect one’s right to impersonate a medical provider and tell a scared young woman that abortion causes breast cancer.

And I’m not alone.

Advocates, elected officials, policy and legal experts, and service providers across New York are coming together to expose fake clinics, providing updated mapping, mobilizing activists and educating at-risk populations through outreach in schools and communities. New York women already know how to look out for each other, and we know how to spot a fake. Initiatives such as Pro-Truth, led by the National Council of Jewish Women New York and nonprofit partners, are ensuring that all women and girls know that if they’re pregnant, not everyone in a white coat is a doctor.

Together, we’re protecting the right to comprehensive, unbiased healthcare, because informed choices can only be made with all the facts. If the courts will not protect New York women, we will protect each other.